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St Peter's Church, Roydon

It is not known when the first church was built in Roydon, but there was certainly a priest here in 1198 named William, as there is a document of that date bearing his name. It is probable that there was an Anglo-Saxon church, probably made of wood, similar to Greensted Church. After the Norman Conquest Roydon developed rapidly, because it was good farmland. There were four manors in Roydon: Roydon Hall where Ducketts Mead is now, Temple Hall on the site of Temple Farm, Doune (now Downe) Hall at the bottom of Low Hill Lane, and Nether Hall nearby. In the 1200s Roydon was the most important of the local villages and held a weekly market, plus an Annual Fair on 1 August. This is the feast day of the dedication of the church to "St. Peter-ad-Vincula" (St. Peter in Chains), celebrating the day on which St. Peter was released by an angel from his chains in the prison in Ephesus. Roydon was an unusual parish, divided between the Hundreds of Waltham and Harlow (one of only five parishes nationally so divided), and being uncommonly large, with a total area of 3,031 acres. The nave of the present church, just a simple rectangle, was built sometime between 1225 and 1240, according to the dating of the roof timbers by the eminent historian of timber buildings, Cecil J. Hewett. Initially in 1240 there was possibly a semicircular apse at the east end to house the sanctuary and the altar, but no evidence remains of this. The church contained a stone font, used for baptisms. That font has survived up to the present day, and is now sited by the north door.